1. The applicant District 1Aanager, Lahore Omnibus Service, Lahore, has filed this application under section 37 of the West Pakistan Industrial Disputes Ordinance, 1968, praying that this Court might accord permission to -the applicant to dismiss from service the respondent Abdul, Razzque a junior clerk, employed in the Lahore Omnibus Service, on account of the certain misconduct alleged to have been committed by, the respondent. Such permission has been sought by the applicant inasmuch as the respondent is reported to be an office-bearer of the Road Transport Employees' Union, which is a registered Trade Union. According to the applicant on the date 25-6- 1969 Sheikh Abdul Samad, Deputy Traffic Manager (South Zone) of the Lahore Omnibus Service, Lahore, submitted a report to the applicant to the effect that at 9-15 a.m. on the same date the respondent Abdul Razaque misbehaved with him in the presence of the below-mentioned officials:-
(1) Mr. G. Saadullah Mumtaz, Assistant Traffic Manager.
(2) Mr. Tariq Yaqub, Assistant Traffic Manager.
(3) Mr. Abdul Ghafoor, Steno to the D. T. M. (SZ).
(4) Mr. Zia-ud-Din Assistant, I/C. OP Branch.
(5) Mr. Abdul Rashid, Senior Clerk, I. O. S. Rawalpindi.
2. An attested copy of the report in question has been attached to the application under consideration on the date 28-7-1969 a charge-sheet bearing No. LOS/EST-3/69/3011 was communicate to the respondent Abdul Razaque in which it was stated that lie had committed an act of disorderly behaviour during working hours and such an act was subversive of discipline and constituted misconduct. As the respondent was a workman for the purpose of the West Pakistan Industrial and Commercial Employment (Standing Orders) Ordinance, 1968, he was allowed- three days for submitting his reply to the charge-sheet. The applicant has complained that instead of replying to the charge-sheet given to him the respondent submitted an application on the date 2- 8-1968 which purported to be a notice under Standing Order 18 of the Schedule appended to the West Pakistan Industrial and Commercial Employment (Standing, Orders) Ordinance, 1968. This application of the respondent is alleged to have been founded upon some misunderstanding and to have contained some absurd allegations. A reply to this application of the respondent was sent to him on the date 11-8-1969 and a further opportunity of replying to the charge-sheet was granted to the respondent. Nevertheless the respondent Abdul Razaque is said to have failed to furnish any reply to the charge-sheet. In view of these circumstances the applicant has recorded the conclusion that the allegations contained in the charge-sheet are justified and since the respondent has not denied their truth, therefore, it is unnecessary to -hold any further formal enquiry into the charges against the respondent. For all these the petitioner has prayed for the permission of this Court for dismissing the respondent Abdul Razzaq from service on the charge of misconduct Copies of the relevant documents mentioned in the applicant's application have been attached to it.
3. A reply to the application under consideration was submitted by the respondent AbdulRazaque in this Court. This reply has been placed on the relevant record. ' It is unnecessarily lengthy and most of its contents have no relevance to the question at issue in this case. The substance of the respondent's reply is that the charge-sheet does not conform to the requirements of the West Pakistan Industrial and Commercial Employment (Standing Orders) Ordinance, 1968, inasmuch as before communicating it to the respondent the applicant did not hold any preliminary enquiry in accordance with the Road Transport Board Service Rules, 1959. Whatever might have been the explanation of the respondent in response to the charge-sheet that was delivered to him' it was undoubtedly the official duty of the respondent to submit a reply to the charge-sheet sent to him by his appointing and removing authority. The respondent has failed to provide any justification for believing that the charge-- sheet was at variance with the requirements of the West. Pakistan Industrial and Commercial Employment (Standing Orders Ordinance, 1968. The respondent reply indicates that he persisting in an unnecessarily bellicose attitude toward the applicant and is trying to obstruct the progress of the formal enquiry instituted by the applicant into the charge against the respondent: For all the above-stated reasons I am convinced that the applicant is justified in seeking the permission of this Court for dismissing the respondent Abdul Razaque from service- on the charges of misconduct. I; therefore, accept the application under consideration and grant the applicant's formal permission for dismissing the respondent Abdul Razaque from service on the above-mentioned grounds.